The vast majority of Chelsea fans were shocked to see Thomas Tuchel sacked on Wednesday morning, following a tame Champions League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.
That loss to the Croatian champions, in Tuchel’s 100th and final match in charge of the club, was Chelsea’s third defeat of the season after just seven games in all competitions.
Despite that stumbling start to the campaign, the Blues sit sixth in the Premier League table, a point ahead of Liverpool and only five behind leage leaders Arsenal. However, the mood had soured behind the scenes and Todd Boehly has made the first big managerial decision since the takeover.
A Standard Sport poll received 10,000 responses and revealed that more than 70% of fans believe Chelsea made the wrong decision to sack Tuchel, days after the end of a record-breaking transfer window in which players such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spoke of their excitement at working with the German.
It has been described as a “foolish” move as many questioned why Tuchel was not given time to work with the new signings.
One fan responded: “I’m one of the biggest critics of Tuchel’s work, but you give €300m for the coach to hire, dismiss (Lukaku, Werner) and reject (Ronaldo, Neymar, Kounde) and fire the coach less than a week after the market closed, that is the definition of lack of planning.”
Another added: “They ain’t getting a better manager than Tuchel. On top of that, Tuchel understands what Chelsea is and has embraced the club in a dignified manner during those sanctioned days.”
“This is a huge mistake, Chelsea FC should have focused the energy on appointing a Sporting Director,” one supporter commented.
Another replied: “No he shouldn’t have been sacked. This is the same issue all over. Where player power still stands.”
Were Chelsea right to sack Thomas Tuchel?
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) September 7, 2022
Vote and have your say below...#CFC
However, there is a minority of Chelsea fans who agree with the decision to part ways with Tuchel, believing the confused nature of the team’s displays in recent weeks pointed to significant problems.
The Blues switched between three different systems in the defeat to Dinamo as Tuchel desperately searched for answers, with Raheem Sterling used as a midfielder and Mason Mount also shifted out of position.
“If he has played a 100 games and we still don’t know what sort of football we are playing, in my humble opinion I think his time was due,” said a Chelsea fan who believes the club was right to get rid of Tuchel.
While there were some frustrations with the performances and results so far this season, Tuchel had built up a huge amount of goodwill among the Chelsea fans after leading the club to a Champions League title just months after taking charge.
The Blues also won the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and twice reached the FA Cup final in his 20 months in the Chelsea dugout.
